Punishment
by Hazey Rine Chu
Summary: He felt so much pain because he held back, not wanting to damage their relationship. Then they broke up after all. "I'm sorry to say it Nagihiko, but it's obvious that without pain there will be no gain."


"We're gonna party like- like it's the end of the world! We're gonna party like- like it's 2012!" Utau danced into the room, with Amu and Yaya on her heels. Rima and Nadeshiko followed after them, they all laughed like little school children.

It was just like old times.

Except, I knew that nothing could be the same.

Don't I sound dramatic?

Two hundred letters. I wrote two hundred letters that never even reached the mail box or the post office. I was too afraid to hear what she would say. What if she replied that she didn't love me anymore. I didn't send a single one of those pre-written letters because I didn't want to push her off of the edge, now I'll never get the chance.

The way she was laughing and drinking to the new year made my heart ache. It opened new and deep scars that ran farther than they seemed. They were wounds that intertwined with blood vessels, clashed with organs, and ran deep in my heart. Wine tasted bland to my lips, for they wanted to taste something new. Something rich and delicious that would knock me senseless. Like, Rima's lips, for instance.

She always smiled, telling everyone that she was all right and that our break up didn't matter. Oh how I saw past through those lies. I, who she could never lie without hurting herself. I, who would rather kill than lie to her. That's why I, on the other hand, let my pain show. To everyone, I was an open book. Did I have to change now? Just because we had broken up? Of course not.

"Hey dude!" Kukai wrapped an arm around me and rubbed my head furiously. Was he drunk already? I felt slightly tipsy myself but I was sane. Everything stayed where they should have been and faces were faces, not half-sensing blurs. "It's the end of the world!"

"I'll drink to that!" I raised my cup to Kukai and he laughed before raising his hand for a high five that I returned. Honestly, us and our childishness.

"Don't be so sad." I froze. Did it honestly have to be Ikuto trying to comfort me? I didn't need comfort. First it was Nadeshiko, then Amu, then Kukai, then Tadase, then Utau, and now- I can't even believe that they had the guts to approach him-Ikuto himself.

"I'm not!" I grinned at him, so sickeningly fake. Gosh, I disgust myself. Ikuto shrugged, dismissing me after giving a 'try' at cheering me up before moving to stalk after Amu as she danced along with his sister, my sister, our extended-relative sister (Yaya, geniuses), and my _ex_-girlfriend.

Fujisaki Nagihiko you are one big idiot.

"Countdown everyone!" For a second, I wanted to leave. But the weight on me, that suddenly made me stumble back, forced me to stay. Bushy hair covered my sight and something springy was in my mouth. I spat it out and heard a loud disgusted gasp.

"My hair!" Rima stood up and glared at- not at me- but at Utau who seemed to have pushed her towards me. I wiped my lips on the sleeve of my jacket.

"That was not how I expected your hair to taste at all." I grumbled. The chibi devil heard me and turned to glare while I faked a smile. A sickeningly sweet splenda smile. Curse you acting genes!

"Whatever." She huffed and blew on her bangs before crossing her arms, her gaze on the floor. "Are we going to do this or what?"

Do what? Oh right… the kiss at midnight.

"We have to count to ten dummy." She glared hostilely at me before red danced on her cheeks and gold flickered in her eyes. So I wasn't the only one who missed ridiculous banter.

"Ten!"

"Nine!"

"Eight!"

_"Rima-chan… I… I'm so sorry for not sending any letters. Or calling. Or… making peace with your devilish soul! I just… I was…"_

_"Forget it Nagihiko! You called Amu, Nadeshiko, Tadase, Kairi, Yaya, Kukai and Ikuto- god forbid you called Ikuto before you called me! But you did!"_

_"This is highly out of character of you…"_

_"Why you-!"_

"Seven!"

"Six!"

I looked in front of me and my heart ached. Ached for her. It beat strong against my chest and I yearned for her touch. For her lips and her scent. She had been far away from me for so long and I just wanted to grab her and run her to the nearest wall and just kiss her (that's among other things)!

_"You're whipped! You sound like a lovesick girl who had just been dump!"_

_"He **is** a lovesick girl- at least, he was."_

_"Shut up! I am in misery and no one can comfort me! Just leave!"_

"Five!"

_"Nadeshiko… what did I do wrong? I had been nothing but good to her. I didn't rush her, I gave her space and time and-."_

_"I think that's it. You gave her too much space, too much time. Let's face it Nagi. Rima is a teenage girl with hormones and needs. You could have at the very least tell her how much you missed her. Or maybe you could have given more detail into how you wish you saw her without her clothes!"_

_"Sh-Shut up! And get out of my diary!" _

"Four!"

"Why?" my voice came out in a broken and breathless whisper. The blonde angel looked at me questioningly and I did my best to avoid her gaze. It hurt too much. I was confused and desperate enough to ask her. Yeah, that's where the courage came from. It came from desperation.

"Three!"

"Why what?" Was she really clueless? Did she not know how hurt I was? Did she not know how our breakup effected me? Did she not know how many nights I spend sleepless because I could think of nothing but her?

"Two!"

"Why do you hurt me so?" I asked, cupping her face, running my eyes to her nose, her lips, her cheeks, her hair. I refused to meet her eyes. She'd melt through me like butter under the sun. She was just too… good at what she did to hurt me. Too good for anyone's sake.

"One!"

"Rima- mph!" I fell back into a sofa and soft lips pressed onto mine. That was… an awkward and rather weird reaction to my question.

Rima kissed me for a few more seconds while fireworks erupted in the sky. Quickly, after giving small light kisses on my face and my neck, she pulled away. Her golden brown eyes were alight with glee as if she had just pulled off the biggest prank in the history of 2011 (which was like ten seconds ago).

"No pain no gain, cross dresser." She was sitting on my lap, and I didn't mind at all since I was so dazed. What just happened? "You left me in Japan with no word from you. Two years, not a single letter, call or visit. You caused me so much misery. It was just fair I hurt you too."

"D-Does this mean I'm forgiven?" I stammered, my thoughts too mushy and uncollected to be calm and proper. The angel smiled before rolling her eyes.

"Why not?" she leaned forward and I readily closed my eyes, awaiting her lips. But she smiled and pulled back again. What a tease! But I love her so. "It's a new year after all."

She stood and started to walk away from me but something snapped and I stood up, grabbed her hand and spun her back to me. She slammed into my chest and I fell back on the couch we were on, her on top.

"I'm sorry Mashiro Rima." My voice sounded weird being husky and restrained. Weird enough that she turned red. "I know that you punished me not because of what I did, but because of what I didn't do."

"I'm just gonna nod and say yes so you'll let me go."

"Oh I don't think so." I pulled her even close to me, completely ignoring our friends voices in the background of our lovey dovey moment. "You just hurt me, and you deserve your own punishment."

"What punishment? Nagi- MPH!"

For the sake of the rating, let's leave this at this.

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><p><strong>This seems different from my usual fics. You see! I'm not always crabby- it just comes at usual times, more often than not. It's been a while since I used the first person narrative (not including You said Yes, which is in dire need of an update. Don't remind me) so forgive me for any typoserrors, but don't be afraid to point them out.**

**A New Year's fic! 2012 and the world still stands! Hooray! And dun dun dun dun *crappy drumroll* It's the year of the dragon! The colors are Green and Yellow. The first six months is Green, and somewhere around June, the color changes to Yellow! :D No wonder the majority of my gifts are yellow. **

**Anyways, Nagihiko was OOC wasn't he? I don't care. I like him this way and you can bitch about it but it won't matter. Honestly, dearies, people change.**

**Have a happy new year, and as my facebook status says:**

**NO PROBLEMS ALLOWED!**

Laughter ONLY!


End file.
